Ken Doane wrestles with a football career at Nichols

Thursday

Aug 22, 2013 at 11:38 PM

By Jim Wilson, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

DUDLEY — Ken Doane is only 27 years old and already has checked plenty of things off his bucket list.

The Bay Path Regional graduate has accomplished his dream of wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment. He has wrestled all over the world and also has been in commercials, been one of the final five participants on the reality television show "Seducing Cindy," and is a published author.

The latest stop on his unique career path is Nichols College, where Doane is a sophomore tight end/defensive end on the football team.

"When I was younger, I always wanted to go to college," Doane said. "Once I got released from WWE because of my knee injury, I moved back to this area. I saw Nichols had an open house, and I wanted to check it out."

Doane decided to pursue a degree in sports management and called football coach Kevin Loney to see if he also could try out for the football team. Doane still wrestles as much as he can on weekends, but wanted to try playing football for the Bison — even though he hadn't played since helping coach Al Dhembe and the Minutemen to an overtime win over Putnam Voke of Springfield in the Division 3A Super Bowl in 2001.

Loney gave him a shot and surprisingly Doane made the transition well. So, for the past two seasons, Doane has tabled body slams and pile drivers in the fall in favor of swim moves and slant routes.

"With wrestling, I was always doing sprints and hill runs and random things that I learned from Dhembe," said Doane, who said he puts off his wrestling bookings until after the football season.

"I knew I had to keep my stamina with wrestling, so the change wasn't that bad. It was a big difference because with wrestling, you want to protect the other guy, but now in football you want to put him on his back."

The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Doane played nine games at defensive end last year for the Bison, making 16 tackles (11 solo) and recovering a fumble. He said his age and world experience have helped him become somewhat of a role model in the Nichols locker room.

"I can see what kids are kind of going south and help them out," Doane said. "Coming back to college at this age, I take it more seriously. If I came to college when I was 18 or 19, I'm not sure I would have done that well. So when I see these 18- or 19-year-old kids going crazy, I know how to help them."

Doane's newest passion is his book, "Billy's Bully," which he wrote after hearing a story in 2009 about a child that committed suicide after being bullied.

"It really affected me," Doane said. "To think that someone took their own life because of that, they must have been really low. That's just horrible that it happened. It really bothered me, and I could only imagine how much it affected people that knew that child."

Doane wanted to help people in similar situations, and said he always had a passion for writing that dates back to his creative writing classes at Bay Path, so the book came naturally for him. "Billy's Bully" is illustrated by Jay Boucher.

Doane has spent the past few months appearing at schools, summer camps and Boys & Girls Clubs promoting the book and trying to help children.

Doane also arranged to have a book signing and kid-friendly event at Nichols from 1-4 p.m. Sept. 21, where he also will help give campus tours and promote the school.

"It's been more rewarding for me," Doane said. "I can wrestle in Madison Square Garden, and everyone would cheer, but the next day, they don't care. Now I can talk to little kids, and they look up to you, and they get your message."

It doesn't seem to matter if the obstacle is bullies, wrestling, writing or football. Whatever the obstacle that Doane finds himself up against, it gets overcome. After life experiences like appearing in front of more than 17,000 people as part of WrestleMania 22, suddenly the impossible doesn't seem so hard.

"You need to make the odds in your favor," Doane said. "So now my thing is going to school and getting my degree and stressing the importance of getting a higher education. I always compare it to wrestling because when I started out, I was 13, and only a few people knew what I was doing. Now I have fans in Japan and England, and I can take something small and grow it.

"This is something that has a purpose and can make a difference in the lives of people."

Contact Jim Wilson at jimwilson@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @JimWilsonTG.